![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎812v] (1641/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1671.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎812v] (1641/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [812v] (1641/1814)
The record is made up of 2 volumes with inserts (898 folios). It was created in 1892-1924. It was written in English, Urdu and German. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
496
PERSIA
share, drawn by an ox or oxen, sometimes only by a donkey, has
but to scratch the surface, on which the seed, lightly thrown,
produces an abundant and unsolicited harvest. In spite of the
thousands of acres of agricultural land lying idle, particularly in
the western and south-western districts, the growth of wheat is
already in excess of the needs of the home population, and grain
is exported in some quantity to Turkey, the Caucasus, India (from
Bunder Abbas) and even to England (from Bushire). Oats, as I
have said, and rye are not grown; there is not much maize; but millet
is produced in parts. Rice is largely cultivated in the low-lying
and saturated strip of the Caspian littoral, whence it is exported
to the Caucasus and to northern Russia, via Astrakhan. 1 A better
quality is grown in a few places in the interior, where enough
water can be spared for the necessary swamp, particularly in the
neighbourhoods of Shiraz and Isfahan. The bulk, however, of
Persian rice is locally consumed, the boiled grain constituting, next
to wheat, the staple diet of the peasantry, and being a universal
feature in every meal, whether of the high or low.
In olden times Persia was famous as a sugar-producing* countrv,
and the plantations of Ahwaz and the Karun basin enjoyed a wide
Sugar renown. I he sugar-cane is now sparsely cultivated in
Gilan and Mazanderan, and also in the province of Yezd
wheie a coaise and ill-refined sugar is made for local consump
tion. The processes employed are very primitive and backward,
and the area of cultivation appears to be diminishing rather than
increasing. Beetroot, however, is very abundant, especially in
Khorasan, and, m any other country than Persia, would long ago
have been utilised to reduce the tremendous annual import of the
French and Russian article. Formerly sugar used to be imported
from India, Java, and Mauritius ; but Marseilles and Astrakhan
are now the chief ports of supply.
Cotton grows with facility in Persia to an elevation of 5 000
feet above the sea. Over 100,000 bales leave the country annu
ally, the greater part for the mills of Bombay,* some for those of
1 The export of rice from Mazanderan and Gilan to Russia +
3,600,000po/rdSf or 58,064 tons per annum; value from 1,000,000 to 1 100000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, or £285,700 to £314,000. For rice and suo-e.r in p 7 1 ’ 100 ’ 000
A. H. Schindler in the United States Consular Reports, ISSS.™ 81 ^ " ' '' PaPer by
° Tbe B °” bay Trad ® Retun f ? how that the export to India began in the year
1884; the subsequent figures being 1884, 20,000 bales (31 cwt eachV 1885
23,000; 1886, 15,000; 1887, ,5,000; 1888,17,000; 1889, first six months!’doOO
About this item
- Content
These two volumes are George Curzon's own personal annotated copies of both volumes of his book Persia and the Persian Question , which was published in 1892. Alongside the volumes are various loose papers relating to Persia [Iran], consisting of the following: received correspondence; newspaper cuttings; publishers' press releases; cuttings from various booksellers' catalogues; various journal and magazine articles; two items of printed official British correspondence; several prints of photographs and sketches; and a few handwritten notes by Curzon.
In most cases these papers, which range in date from 1892 to 1924, relate to the chapters in the book where they were originally inserted, suggesting that they were kept by Curzon with the intention of using them to inform a revised edition of the book.
Of particular note among the small amount of correspondence are two letters received by Curzon in 1914 and 1915 from retired schoolmaster and Islamic scholar Sayyid Mazhar Hasan Musawi of Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India (ff 5-9 and ff 44-53). These letters, which are written in Urdu and are accompanied by English translations, discuss in detail several inaccuracies found in the Urdu version of Persia and the Persian Question .
The various prints of photographs and sketches, which were originally inserted into volume two, are of different locations in the Gulf region. Several of these appear to have been produced in preparation for the publication of the second volume of John Gordon Lorimer's Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Oman and Central Arabia (i.e. the 'Geographical and Statistical' section) in 1908, as they are identical to the versions found in that volume.
Also of note among the loose papers are an illustrated article from Country Life dated 5 June 1920, entitled 'The People of Persia' (ff 36-37), and a printed family tree of the Shah of Persia [Aḥmad Shah Qājār], produced in preparation of his visit to Britain in 1919 (f 233).
Volume one of Persia and the Persian Question contains a map of Persia, Afghanistan and Beluchistan [Balochistan], which is folded inside the front cover (f 1).
The German language material consists of a publisher's press release for two books authored by German archaeologist Ernst Emil Herzfeld (ff 29-30).
- Extent and format
- 2 volumes with inserts (898 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: this shelfmark consists of two physical volumes. The foliation sequence commences at the first folio of volume one (1-463), and terminates at the last folio of volume two (ff 464-898); these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. Each volume contains a large number of loose leaves, which have been foliated in the order that they were inserted into the volume; for conservation reasons, these loose folios have been removed from the volume and stored separately. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers of the two volumes.
Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English, Urdu and German in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [812v] (1641/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x00002a> [accessed 5 April 2025]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x00002a
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x00002a">Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎812v] (1641/1814)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x00002a"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_1671.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F111/33
- Title
- Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Questionby George Curzon, with Inserted Papers
- Pages
- 54r:135v, 147r:149v, 158r:180v, 183r:221v, 224r:224v, 227r:246v, 248r:257v, 259r:260v, 268r:362v, 364r:364v, 367r:388v, 390r:400v, 402r:416v, 419r:432v, 434r:444v, 448r:462v, 464r:471v, 475r:481v, 483r:513v, 516r:525v, 527r:544v, 546r:563v, 566r:598v, 600r:622v, 624r:656v, 658r:665v, 667r:675v, 678r:684v, 687r:688v, 691r:691v, 693r:693v, 695r:708v, 711r:721v, 724r:726v, 728r:729v, 731r:736v, 742r:742v, 746r:757v, 759r:761v, 763r:763v, 765r:765v, 772r:777v, 780r:789v, 793r:794v, 797r:809v, 811r:821v, 825r:840v, 843r:898v
- Author
- Curzon, George Nathaniel, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
- Usage terms
- Public Domain